Corruption appeal ruins Lula’s Brazil re-election

A Brazilian appeals court yesterday upheld ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s conviction for corruption, dealing a major blow to his hopes of running for re-election this year.

Lula was appealing against his July conviction in Brazil’s Operation Car Wash corruption inquiry. The Leftist leader is accused of accepting a threefloor seaside apartment from Brazil’s OAS construction group for public contracts from state oil firm Petrobras during his 2003-2010 presidency.

Lula is expected to continue to challenge the conviction.